Future remains cloudy for Magic
Bianchi: Hopes dampened with Jonathan Isaac out next season.
In the wake of the Orlando Magic being eliminated from the playoffs in five games by the Milwaukee Bucks, we did a Twitter poll on our radio show Monday morning in which we asked listeners if they were meteorologists, how would they forecast the Magic’s future?
The four choices were: (1) Bright and sunny; (2) Partly cloudy; (3) Scattered showers; (4) Hurricane coming.
Scattered showers easily won the poll, but I believe another option would have been more appropriate for summertime in Central Florida:
Thunderstorms likely.
When I hear “scattered showers,” it makes it seem like you can still go on with your normal plans whereas as “likely thunderstorms” means you better consider other options. The Magic, because of Jonathan Isaac’s devastating knee injury suffered in just his second game back after sitting out seven months with a previous knee injury, certainly need to at least start thinking about alternative plans.
Jeff Weltman, the Magic’s president of basketball operations, acknowledged on Monday that Isaac will miss all of next season while rehabbing from surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee. There is no other way to put it: Isaac’s injury is an overwhelming obstacle in Weltman’s plan to transform the Magic from a one-and-done playoff team to a championship contender.
Last season when the Magic lost in five games to the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs, there was unquestionably much more confidence in the future of the franchise. The Magic had made the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons, Isaac was starting to show signs of perhaps someday becoming the superstar the franchise could build around and there was still immense hope for the development of young center Mo Bamba.
Now let’s fast-forward to this season when the Magic finished almost identically to last year, losing 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs to the Milwaukee Bucks. Give coach Steve Clifford credit for maximizing the talent he had on hand and for getting his injury-riddled team to play hard and stay competitive despite being without three of its top eight players (Isaac, Aaron Gordon and Michael Carter-Williams). However, it’s undeniable that there is much more trepidation about the Magic’s future than there was last year.
The Magic still don’t know what they have in Bamba, who was drafted sixth overall two years ago and whose development has been slowed by injuries. Bamba missed much of last season with a stress fracture in his leg and this season missed the playoffs and left the Disney bubble after some conditioning issues in the wake of contracting COVID-19 in June.
But Issac, without a doubt,
is the real concern. The Magic’s front office tandem of Weltman and GM John Hammond are the ones who discovered Milwaukee
Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo when he was a relatively unknown prospect in Greece. Giannis, picked No. 15 in the 2013 draft, has evolved into the league MVP and Defensive Player of the Year and is the linchpin to the Bucks’ championship hopes.
Isaac has a similar skill set and Weltman and Hammond are hoping he can follow a comparable career
path, but those plans have been sidetracked because of his injury issues. With Isaac not playing next season, the Magic have a huge dilemma on their hands: Do they dare sign their injury-prone forward to a long-term contract extension? Do they have a choice?
“I’d be less than honest If I didn’t say his injury is a kick in the teeth for all of us,” Clifford said. “He’s a big part of our plan going forward. He’s a very talented player and he also brings great intangibles to our team. To say that injury is not signifi
cant would be naïve on my part and untruthful.”
This is not to say the Magic don’t have some reasons for optimism moving forward. Center Nikola Vucevic was amazing in the playoffs, averaging 28 points and 11 rebounds. He continues to get better and better. And Markelle Fultz, only 22 years old, started 60 games in the regular season and all five playoff games and showed he will be the Magic’s point guard of the future.
Maybe Vooch’s excellence, Fultz’s development and the return of key com
ponents such as Gordon, Terrence Ross and Evan Fournier will mean more wins for the Magic next season.
But let’s be honest, this is not a team that’s even close to being a contender.
Unless they miraculously acquire more talent, thunderstorms are likely.